THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE   COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH   CAROLINIANA 


G378 

b'lO 
1832H 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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A    L  E  C  T  U  li  E 


Imperfectfousi  of  one  Diiw*rr^  Sc^ool^^ 


THE  BEST  METHOD  OF  CORRECTIJ^G  THEM: 


DELITEGCD  BEFORE 


THE  NORTH  CAROLINA 
INSTITUTE   OF  EDUCATION, 


CHAPEL    HILL, 

JUNE  20th,   1832. 


BY    ^V  ILL  I  AM   HOOPER. 
Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in  the  University. 


NEWBERN: 
Printed  by  Johv  I.  Pasteur. 


1832. 


t 


E  F  A  C  E 


The  writer  of  tlip  follow  iiip  Lrrture  fcrl?  it  to  bo  duo  to  liiiPFplf,  iu 
scndiiia  it  loitii  1(1  tlM  ]  nbluls,  t(  ii,;,kt  siiii  ;i[(li(._\  t(  ,  li.i  i,<.lti:(ss 
in  wliitii  he  has  indulgf  ti  hiint-tll'  in  son.t  [ails  ot  it.  l.t  lnj.^  riie 
reader  to  recollccr,  that  though  prepared  j-iolc  s^eciij  to  be  rttici  l.tlorc 
the  Institute,  yet  it  was  aiitiei]  ;it(  ci  tliat  tht  auoitnce  betoii  vl.cii  it 
would  actually  be  dili\eied,  \\  ^  uh:  Ik  la.  or  anci  j  un  is^  i.oue  ,  I)  ;.  l  it 
would  form  one  out  of  several  disceui si  s  to  l;t  pronounced  at  the  same 
time  on  grave  subjects,  and  theufoie  that  it  n  i^ht  Lt  pauonaLli  to 
intcispcrse  some  stiokes  of  pleasantly  by  way  of  relieving  attention. 
"V\  hen,  however,  the  piece  was  called  loi  to  appeal  in  punt  an  one; 
the  other  publications  oi' th(  Institute,  tin  autlioi  hac.  once  detcm  iitd 
to  suppress  it,  as  not  giave  enough  to  be  woilliy  ol  that  body,  but  as 
thi  essay  contained  niaiiy  suggestions  v^huh  he  VMsliee.  n.uci  te'  [  le- 
sent  to  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  JNoith  Caiohna,  he  has  \en- 
tured  to  commit  it  to  the  pre  ss.  tie  might,  it  is  true,  have  omitted  the 
ludicrous  parts,  but  that  wouki  have  rtqunen  it  to  be  lecast,  aiiei  would 
have  been  contrary  to  the  i  xpiessi  d  wishet;  ot  st  veial  ot  llit  riien.bus, 
who  thouglit  that  whatever  hun.oui  was  mteispeisi  ei  \\oule.  ohly 
attract  publick  cuiiosity,  and  ot  couise  cause  any  usitul  aeMct  j.nen 
to  be  more  extensively  lead.  1  he  ^\  liter  has  tlieieibre  yielded  to  tiiis 
opinion,  and  if  found  fault  with,  ha?  no  bettei  delenee  than  that  ol  the 
ancient  satirist : 

ridenlem  dicere  verum, 

Gluid  vetat  J 

A  few  omissions  and  additions  have  been  made  in  preparinT  the 
Lei  ture  for  the  press.  In  one  of  these  an  allusion  is  made  to  the  poli- 
tical ferment  now  existing  in  some  paits  of  our  country  ,  and  it  is 
liop'-d  not  to  be  an  unpaic:onable  sm,  li  when  Cii:ur.iOh  i.i  e  u  sk  ii  i  i  e  to 
law  a.e  taught  ex  cc.tUf  ,u  in  son.r  other  colleges,  sentiments  ot  a 
different  kind  should  emanate  from  this. 


LECTURE 


Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Institute  : 

We,  upon  wliom  you  have  devolved  tlie  tasl;  ot' aildiefsinff  an  audi- 
ence wliich  has  been  feasted  by  the  intelleetual  enteitauiineut  ol  this 
raoaiino-,*  have,  we  can  assure  yon,  partaken  largely  of  the  g(Mieial 
festivity,  and  can  excliange  heaity  conrrratulations  with  a  delipl^ted 
publick.  Yet  we  cannot  l)ut  be  sensible  of  the  disadvantage  under 
which  we  labour,  of  succeeding  such  a  speaker,  and  of  provii'ing 
entertainment  for  ears  yet  ringing  with  such  musick.  'V\  hat  we  must 
lose,  however,  in  the  favourable  hearing  of  our  humble  essavs,  we 
shall  have  amply  made  up  to  us  in  the  countenance  and  sanction  given 
to  the  labours  of  our  lives  by  the  sentiments  uttered  to-day  ;  and  we, 
whose  office  it  is  daily  to  instruct  the  youth  who  hung  upon  the  lips  of 
the  orator  of  the  day,  cannot  but  rejoice  to  have  oui  opinions  ratified, 
and  our  authority  seconded  by  remarks  issuing  from  so  high  a  source. 
We  feel  much  indebted  to  one  who  has  added  the  force  of  his  sufi' age 
to  the  utility  of  that  system  of  classical,  mathematical  and  philosopliical 
study  by  which  it  is  the  business  of  our  lives  to  tiain  up  the  youth  of 
on.'  country  for  the  future  demands  of  that  country.  \\  e  feel  that  our 
hands  are  strengthened  bv  such  an  ally  :  we  rejoice  in  the  arrival  of 
such  an  auxiliary  to  fight  the  great  liattle  of  truth  and  freedom,  and 
provided  the  blessed  victory  is  won,  we  care  not  much  whose  hiow 
shall  wear  the  laurels.  We  can  very  contentedly  follow  on,  unnoticed, 
in  the  triumphal  procession,  and  envy  not  the  hero  who  sits  in  the 
chiriot  before  us;  but  feel  happy  to  have  a  contest  so  dear  to  us 
maintained  by  stronger  arms  than  ouis,  and  proud  to  have  one  of  ISoith 
Carolina's  first  and  favouiite  names  proclaimed,  in  the  exercises  of 
this  day,  on  the  side  of  sound  learning  and  immortal  patriotism. 

*  1  his  essay  was   read  on   the   aftt moon  of  the  day  on  which  jNIr. 
Gaston  delivered  his  Uration  before  the  two  literarv  societies. 


The  subject  ^\'^^icll  was  assijiiiid  me  for  a  lecture  hefore  the  Institute 
at  this  tiiiK' is,  "  1  he  Inipeifections  of  oui  I  liniary  ^  ehools,  i.i  c  the 
best  int  ihod  of  correcting  them."  The  proposal  and  adoption  of  this, 
as  a  -uhject  of  discussion,  implies  a  conviction  in  the  minds  of  tlu-  pub- 
licl,,  that  evils  do  exist  in  the  svsfem  ofoui  primary  schools;  that  those 
evils  are  felt  and  de{)lored,  and  that  a  remedy  is  anxiously  desii  ed. 
Indeed  it  can  escape  the  observation  of  no  one,  that  in  the  present 
state  of  thinas  there  is  much  waste  of  time  and  expense,  that  a  huge 
number  of  our  youth  make  no  improvement,  and  that  the  attaiiin.i  nts 
of  .11  come  far  short  of  wliat  is  practicable.  To  boriow  a  compa:ison 
fioni  another  ait,  we  may  say,  the;e  is  a  prodisal  v\astc  of  the  raw 
mat 'rials  for  education,  by  want  of  skill  in  the  manufacture. 

The  evil  which  we  deprecate,  and  whose  causes  we  propose  to  ex- 
plore, results  almost  necessarily  from  tlu  present  ciicumstances  ef  our 
country.  Our  countiy  is  compaiatively  j'oung.  \\  c  are  a  nation  of 
scattered  agriculturists,  embosomed  and  hidden  in  the  midst  of  a 
boundless  forest,  upon  whose  breast  all  our  labours  hitherto,  have 
only,  here  and  there,  made  little  spots  of  culture,  bearing  scarc<  ly  any 
proportion  to  the  vast  sylvan  expanse  which  surrounds  and  ovtihangs 
them,  and  insulates  each  family  from  its  neighbouis.  Let  any  peison 
ascend  one  of  our  mountains,  or  even  one  of  our  loftiest  spn\  s  or 
cupolas,  and  look  doAvn  upon  the  prospect  beneath  him.  fjc  will  be 
surprised  to  see  how  little  fcrritory  we  have  yet  reclaimed  from  the 
Aviiderness  —  how  diminutive  appear  the  inipiessions  which  human 
hands  have  made,  in  so  many  years,  upon  the  wide  face  of  nature. 
He  will  see  that  we  deserve  yet  to  be  denonrinated,  in  a  great  measure, 
a  people  of  the  woods.  In  such  a  state  of  society  there  will  be  a  gjcat 
waste  of  raw  mati  rials  of  every  description,  of  mind,  no  less  than  of 
wood,  land  and  water.  The  lavish  resources  of  such  a  country  exceed 
the  wants  of  its  thin  population,  and  therefore  lie  hidden  from  their 
view,  or  rot  neglected  under  their  feet.  1  heir  innumerable  tuts  of 
stately  timber,  which,  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  society  would  all  be 
in  demand,  and  all  be  fashioned  into  a  thousand  articles  for  domestjck 
convenience  and  embellishment,  are  now  hewn  down  with  unspa.ing 
hand,  as  an  incumbrance,  thrown  into  piles  and  burned.  Its  stit£ii,,s, 
which  amid  a  dense  population  would  be  alive  with  wateimen  .  nd 
Ihiir  loaded  batteaux,  or  resounding  with  the  lumbling  of  machinery, 
now  wind  their  couise  through  the  thickets  unexploud  by  th^  mri- 
osity,  and  unvexed  by  the  cupidity  of  man.  Is  it  wohd^iful  thut  in 
such  an  ea;ly,  incijaent  stite  of  soeif-ty,  miiui  shoidd  be  v.  ast  e  or 
nnempioycd  as  well  as  matter?  In  these  circumstances,  those  c^uahtie^ 


of  body  and  mind  only  wiU  h'^  v  ilu  d  nnd  cultivat'-d  wliidi  nit-  nrinif- 
diiit 'ly  iipplicjlii  ■  to  r!i  ■  \va  it'i  of  lit''.  .~-ur'i  a]>iii(.|,,  >  itln,  li.om- 
selv's  I'iniirrants  i'ioiii  ix  more  iiiipioved  coiiiif vy ,  or  the  diild  ■  of 
such  eniiffrant:;,  will  cany  in  th'ir  niin<b  the  idra  and  iiindcl  of  im- 
provsjnents  bidoiiiiiiia  to  that  oldri  connti-y.  Thiy  will  lie  inipati' iit 
to  !)ri.iw  their  own  rndc  land  to  an  (quality  with  such  a  model,  ami  will 
ffo  01  emulating,  and  gradually  apinoxinuiting  the  admired  standard. 
This  approximation  may  he  made  more  rajiidly  in  agriculture  and  t'le 
arts  than  in  education.  A  man  may,  liy  the  application  of  indi'sly 
and  taste,  clear  out  a  spot  in  the  desert,  and  emln  llish  it  at  once  with 
a  lim-  house  and  garden  and  fields,  in  imitation  of  those  Je(-  has  seen 
in  a  more  highly  cultivated  region.  But  it  is  not  so  easy  to  tiansj.ort 
to  that  forest,  the  intelL'ctual  society  of  the  mother  land,  and  to  rear 
up  there  a  school  or  a  college  in  all  the  perfection  of  oldir  institutions  of 
tlie  same  kind.  The  majority  of  people  in  such  early  settlements  will 
always  be  rather  of  the  poorer  and  more  iirnorant  class  of  the  conmiu- 
nitv.  Their  ideas  of  education  will,  of  couise,  be  limited.  T'he  ludk 
of  vouth  growing  up  in  such  circumstances,  will  he  satisfied  with  very 
little  mental  improvement — will  pass  a  great  part  of  their  life  in  the 
huiter  and  fisher  stat-^,  their  chief  companions  will  be  their  dogs  and 
thei-  horses,  and  the  merits  of  these  favourites  the  common  topick  of 
their  social  hours.  If  a  f  w  families  of  superior  cultivation  are  dis- 
persed amidst  this  mass,  they  cannot  raise  it  to  their  standard,  hut 
must  be  drawn  down  by  superiour  numbers  to  a  lower  standard.  And 
thus  it  will  often  happen  that,  in  a  family  where  the  beauties  of  Shak- 
sp'^are,  Milton  and  Addison,  or  the  philosophy  of  Locke  and  Dugald 
Stewart  formed  the  subject  of  tea-table  discussion,  will  be  heard  from 
thr  lips  of  the  next  generation  only  the  price  of  cotton  and  of  negroes; 
and  a  group  of  young  gentlemen,  instead  of  discussing  the  point,  whe- 
ther Sir  Walter  8cott  or  "\^'ashingto^  Irving  be  the  more  elegant  wri- 
ter, or  investigating  the  meaning  of  a  passage  in  Cicero  and  Virgil, 
will  he  heard  disputing  with  clamoious  eloquence,  whether  Dr.  Jones's 
colt  or  Capt.  Eagle's  filly  has  the  best  heels,  and  whether  Jowler  or 
Musick  first  roused  Reynard  from  his  morning  slumbers. 

Until  society  has  been  pushed  far  beyond  this  condition,  you  cannot 
expect  good  schools  or  cultivated  men.  Every  thing  like  polite  learn- 
ing will  be  despised,  and  ignorance  will  be  respectable  because  it  will 
be  fashionable.  It  would  be  useless  in  such  a  community  to  have  a 
good  school.  The  youth  will  not  take  an  education  if  you  thj  ow  it 
in  thsir  way.  Now,  although  the  tenour  of  these  remarks  is  more  appli- 
cable to  some  newer  settlements  at  the  \'  est  than  to  the  state  of  North 
Carolina,  yet  we  f^^-el  considerably  the  disadvantages  of  this  incipient 
period  of  national  existence. 


8 

1.  Tlie  first  cause,  t'lerefore,  on  which  I  shall  touch,  of  the  imperfec- 
tions in  our  pn.nary  schools  is,  the  circu.nstances  of  ou;  youth.  There 
is  not  a  suificient  stimulus  upon  the  youih  of  our  state  to  cultivate'  the 
powers  of  their  minds.  Most  of  those  sent  to  school  are  the  children 
of  men  of  considerable  property.  These  young  persons  have  never 
felt  the  pressure  of  want  and  the  necessity  of  exertion.  While  at  home, 
they  have  been  accustomed  to  pass  their  time  in  case  and  amusement, 
and  when  they  leave  that  home  for  school  or  college,  the  change  must 
be  irksome.  The  confinement  of  a  schoolroom,  the  demand  of  close 
applir'ation  to  uninteresting  studies,  the  stern  obligation  of  performing 
a  regular  daily  task,  and  the  privations  of  a  boarding  house,  must  go 
hard  with  a  boy  after  being  accustomed  to  ramble  about  his  father's 
plantation,  with  dogs  at  his  heels  and  a  gun  or  fishing-rod  on  his 
shoulder,  until  he  is  tired,  and  then  to  return  to  the  house,  open  his 
mother's  pantry,  and  there  fish  with  more  success  among  jars  of  sweet- 
meats and  jellies.  Will  it  i)e  wonderful  if  a  youth  sent  from  these 
doni'stickindulaences,  should  find  school  ungrateful,  accuse  his  teach- 
er of  being  cruel,  or,  to  use  a  favorite  school-boy  phrase,  "of  showing 
pa  tiality" — that  he  should  recite  with  mournful  recollections,  and  still 
sadder  forebodings,  that  awful  Greek  verb  tuplo,  to  beat — particularly 
in  the  passive  voice,  tnptomai,  I  am  lender  beating  now  ;  etuptomen,  I  icas 
under  beating  a  little  wliileago;  and  then  the  dismal  future,  tuphthesomai, 
I  shall  be  beaten — but  above  all  that  most  frightful  of  all  the  tenses,  the 
paulo-post-future,  (denoting  the  imminence  of  his  danger)  tetupsomai, 
I  shall  be  verij  soon  beaten  again.  Ask  such  a  boy  the  usual  grammati- 
cal question,  "  what  is  a  verb  ?"  and  it  will  be  no  wonder  if  he  forget 
the  foregoing  part  of  the  definition,  "to  be  and  to  do,"  and  answer,  that 
"a  verb  is  a  word  which  signifies  to  suffer."  Will  it  be  wonderful  that 
such  a  boy  should  sigh  for  the  lost  joys  of  home,  and  while  his  task 
calls  him  to  accompany  jEneas  in  his  wanderings,  his  mind  should  be 
off,  recollecting  his  own  pleasanter  wanderings  on  the  banks  of  the 
Capefear,  the  Yadkin  or  the  Roanoke?  Would  he  consider  it  a  very 
serious  mis'ortune,  if  for  inattention  to  his  books,  or  some  youthful 
prank,  he  should  be  senthome  to  the  scene  of  his  former  amusements? 
Will  he  be  very  loath  to  incur  such  a  misfortune  ?  For  what  does  he 
expect  when  he  arrives  at  his  father's  house?  He  may  a  little  dread 
the  first  interview:  but  he  knows  that  after  a  good  scolding,  his 
time  will  pass  as  pleasantly  at  home  as  before.  His  indulgent  parent 
allows  him  to  cheer  the  days  of  his  rustication  with  his  fowling  piece, 
thus  contriving  at  home  what  could  not  be  eflected  at  school,  a  way 
"to  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot."  Hunting,  fishing  and  neigh- 
bourhood visits,  will  constitute  the  tenour  of  his  life.  These  are  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  our  youth  are  placed,  and  this  constitutes  one 


^rand  obstacle  to  llioir  improviiu'iit  at  srliool  and  at,  cnHriTo ;  foi 
til  -  -MKi.ks  apply  wit'.i  as  niiiclito.-t.it,  -i,!  ^;ia  ;  .■  -  t  .  tlic 
so'ii.  1  -boy.  Tliere  is  too  strong  a  cent  apt  lietwi  pn  a  yontirs  situa- 
tio;>  it  home  and  at  school,  and  that  contrast  all  in  favour  of  home. 
Now  this  bfino;  thi-  case,  parents  have  the  remedy  in  their  own  lir.nds. 
This  inequality  must  lie  altered.  The  truant  who  goes  home  in  dis- 
gra  t-  must  be  no  gainer  by  the  exchange.  Let  the  sending  of  liini 
liom>  !)e  like  the  sending  of  him  t)  the  penitentiary.  Let  him  be  made 
to  put  off  his  broad-cloth  coat,  in  which  he  would  be  glad  to  go  and  see 
th  '  you:ig  ladi 's,  and  let  him  array  hiuis  df  in  a  plantation  suit  from 
his  mother's  own  loom,  and  let  him  tend  his  father's  crop  and  .  a  in  his 
dadv  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  b-ow.  A.  discipline  of  this  kind  wiuld 
so.m  make  school  lose  its  hoirours,  and  perhaps  a  f .  w  months'  labour 
atth  plough  orth"' hoi- would  bring  about  an  i^a/nest  petition  to  b;  per- 
mitted to  return  to  school,  with  the  [)vomise  of  diligence  and  goo<l  be- 
haviour. I  fear  thiM'e  is  littl  ■  prosp<-ct  of  persuading  parents  to  adopt 
nia-ures  of  this  kind.  They  are  ing(  neral  so  injudiciously  indulgent,* 
that  their  childien  are  not  afraid  to  offend  them.  And  this  is  the  rea^ 
so'i  why  so  few  who  set  out  to  get  an  education,  persevere  till  they  ar- 


*  i'arents  are  little  aware  how  necessary  it  is  that  they  should  lay 
th^  groundwork  of  their  children's  subordination  within  the  doi.itstick 
walls.  They  must  prepare  them  by  previous  trainino  for  an  oid  rly 
subjection  to  the  rules  and  requisitions  of  scholastick  life.  If  they  do 
noi,  they  are  laying  up  future  trouble  for  their  children,  and  preparing 
them  to  rebel  against  the  most  necessary  restraints.  How  can  it  be 
expected,  that  a  boy,  indulged  at  home  in  every  wish,  and  accustomed, 
by  obstinate  adherence  to  his  purpose,  to  get  the  better  of  his  fatiier 
and  mother,  will,  when  he  goes  to  school,  submit  to  the  authority  of 
his  preceptor?  If  the  history  of  many  men  who  disturb  the  worhi  oy 
thei  restless  and  turbulent  dispositions  were  traced  back  to  the  halnts 
of  infancy,  it  would  probably  be  sem  that  the  foundation  of  their  char- 
acteis  was  laid  in  early  mismanagement.  They  were  allowed  to  in- 
dulge a  violent  temper  without  punishment,  to  domineer  over  slaves, 
to  st  uggle  with,  and  even  fight  their  motheis,  when  they  attempted  to 
control  them,  and  been  onlyMaughed  at  for  these  paroxysms  of  impott  nt 
ragi.  These  young  bloods  no  doubt  gave,  even  in  the  nursery,  plain 
pr-  sages  of  their  hatn^d  of  subjection,  and  their  conslilutional  scruples 
to  all  grievous  impositions.  One  night  have  there  seen  the  cmNyo 
of  the  futur-^  patriot,  resisting  all  invasion  of  his  rights.  He  gave  hap- 
py auguries  of  his  dislike  to  the  principle  of  protection  by  his  loud 
sc  ams  whenever  the  bread  and  butter  were  locked  up;  and  that  he 
would  one  day  be  a  deadly  foe  to  tariffs,  he  gave  striking  prognostics 
wb  never  he  was  promisrd  a  lump  of  sugar  upon  the  payment  of  <'er- 
tai  1  heavy  duties,  such  as  kef^ping  quiet,  or  gi'tting  his  lesson  ;  for  he 
always  would  have  the  susnr  free  of  duty.  It  was  Voltaire,  I  brli  ve, 
who  -aid  that  th°  fat'^  of  nations  sometimes  depended  upon  th"  good  or 
bad  dig  -stion  of  th"  prim"  minist  ••  —  an^  p'-  iiaps  tlu  n  p^se  <d  a  re- 
publi^-i.-  rrtav  d'.pv.id  upon  the  infli.-tion  of  a  few  wholesome  stripes  up 
^n  a  froward  child. 


10 

rive  at  th>>  goal.  AVh-^-reas  in  tho  Northern  States,  few,  comparativpiy. 
break  ifT  vftr  on'"?  Hoo-innins'.  The  r-^ason  of  this  is  the  certaint  of 
meeting  from  their  parents  th."  treatment  I  have  heen  recommending, 
if  they  refuse  to  imp  •ovi^  tli^mselves  at  seliool.  One  remarkable  in- 
stance may  be  mentioned.  It  is  told  of  the  first  President  Adams, 
that  when  h^  was  s-^nt  to  school  he  would  not  learn  his  Latin  w  -m- 
mar.  His  father,  who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  plain  sensible 
men  that  20  by  the  old  proverb,  "a  bird  that  can  sinjr  and  w  n't 
sin?"  &c.,  took  him  home,  and  set  him  to  ditching,  an  operation  so  lit- 
tle to  the  taste  of  the  fntnre  Chief  Vrapistrate,  that  it  made  all  the 
combined  terrors  of  th<  eiorht  parts  of  speech  appear  as  nothing  in  com- 
parison— and  such  sounds  as  quicuiique,  qu(tcunque,  quodcunquc,  vel 
quilcimque,  which  once  seemed  as  if  they  would  break  his  jaws  in  the 
very  utterance  of  them,  he  could  pronounce  as  glibly  as  his  a,  b,  c. 
This  then,  be  it  remembered,  made  John  Adams,  scnr.  President  of  the 
Unit'^d  States — the  alternative,  Latin  or  the  ditch.  We  must  make 
scholars  by  the  same  art  that  the  Romans  made  soldiers.  Their  very 
name  for  army*  was  taken  from  the  exercises  daily  required  of  the  sol- 
diers, which  exercises  were  more  severe  and  oppressive  in  time  of 
peace  than  in  time  of  war.  This  made  the  Roman  soldier  sigh  for  a 
eampaign,  as  procuring  him  a  holiday  from  the  tedium  of  drilling. 

But  it  is  not  merely  the  love  of  home  indulgence  and  home  amuse- 
ments which  damps  the  ardour  and  relaxes  the  exertion  of  the  youthful 
scholar.  There  is  a  thought  which  often  crosses  his  mind,  while  toiling 
at  his  daily  college  lessons,  "Of  what  use  is  all  this  going  to  be  to  me  ? 
I  am  to  be  a  farmer,  or  a  merchant,  or  at  most  a  doctor,  and  every  one 
knows  it  takes  very  little  education  to  make  a  physician.  Look  at 
Drs.  X,  Y,  Z,  unknown  quantiti'^s,  to  be  sure,  (as  the  Algebraists  say,) 
but  still  in  good  practice — and  although  they  thin  the  population  a  lit- 
tle, yet  are  certainly  less  destructive  to  the  human  species  than  either 
int-imperance  or  the  cholera.  If  they  get  along  with  but  a  smaltcing 
of  Latin,  and  no  Greek  or  Mathematics,  so  canl."t     This  soliloquy  is 

*  '^xercitus. 

f  I  hope  nothing  hei'^  said  can  be  so  misunderstood  as  to  be  con- 
strued into  disrespect  for  the  medical  profession.  No  one  cherislies 
higher  respect  or  a  more  aff.^ctionate  regard  than  I  do  for  the  gmtle- 
men  of  that  faculty — those  soothers  of  human  wo,  those  friends  on 
whom  we  repose  our  throbbing  hosoms  in  the  most  agonizing  houis  of 
life.  So  far  from  concu^-ring  in  the  above  ignorant  and  shallow  notions 
of  the  intellectual  cultivation  requisite  to  the  profession,  I  believe 
th'^ -e  is  no  profession  which  requires  more  acuteness  of  mind,  more 
pr  jfound  philosophical  views,  and  more  liberal  information.  So  much 
do'-s  human  happiness  depend  ou  physicians,  that  they  surely,  if  any 
ni'?:!  whatovee,  ought  to  bring  to  th  -ir  aid,  all  the  light  and  all  the 
Strength  which  the  best  opportunities  and  the  most  perfect  cultivation 


11 

apt  to  occur  with  a  student  somewhere  in  the  course  of  his  Sophomore 
or  Junior  yiur;  when  after  moving  on  grudgingly  thiouoh  huA  his 
term,  the  gcowing  laboujs  of  th  •  way  begin  to  sicken  liis  heart,  and 
the  feeling  of  incipient  manhood  to  inspire  the  hope  that  he  may  be  al- 
lowed to  have  the  disposal  of  himself.  Then  farewell  any  fuithei  im- 
provement! And  next  comes  a  letter  from  his  father,  authorizm<'  his 
son  to  select  his  own  studies.  "  Ah,  glorious  times  now  !  I  shall  have 
to  recite  only  two  or  three  tunes  a  week,  and  the  rest  of  the  tune  1  can 
do  with  as  I  please — range  through  the  libraries,  read  novels  and 
newspapers,  and  have  plenty  of  tune  to  li  on  the  bed  and  take  naps, 
while  the  regulars,  poor  dogs,  are  digging  after  Greek  roots,  or  Wiith- 
ing  on  angles  as  heart-piercing  as  a  bayonet's  point.  But  may  b^ ,  I 
may  conclude,  when  I  get  home,  to  be  a  doctor ;  so  a  little  touch  of 
chnnistry  before  1  leave  college."  And  thus  is  a  raw,  undisciplmed 
mind  suddenly  transferred  from  a  lower  class  up  to  a  couise  of  scien- 
tifick  study  for  which  it  is  not  prepared,  and  where  it  does  little  uiore 
than  expose  its  incompetency,  and  furnish  another  illustration  of  tne 
maxim,  that  there  is  no  royal  road  to  learning.  It  may  be  thou  lit 
that  these  animadversions  on  a  partial  and  mutilated  course  of  study 
at  college,  are  foreign  to  my  appointed  subject,  as  they  relate  to  the 
suivs.^quent  and  later  part  of  education  rather  than  to  the  elementary 
one.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  tliat  the  frequent  e.vamples  of  such  inter- 
ruptions to  a  liberal  education,  have  a  malignant  influence  even  on  the 
ea:iii!r  years  of  academical  life,  and  encourage  and  increase  the  school- 
boy's distaste  for  Iris  present  studies  which  he  anticipates  will  be  drop- 
p^  d  in  a  few  years,  and  therelore  need  not  be  prosecuted  noiv  with  much 
diligence.  The  remedy  for  tliis  evil  appears  to  be,  that  a  youth  sliould 
be  given  to  understand,  when  he  is  sent  to  school,  that  he  is  to  take  a 
tho  ough  course ;  tliat  the  pleasure  and  profit  and  credit  of  the  latter 
pait  of  his  course  will  depend  essentially  upon  his  improvement  m  the 
first  part,  and  that  his  education  is  to  be  his  livelihood.  ;.nd  if,  instead 
of  cutting  short  their  sons'  collegiate  career,  out  of  economy,  parents 
Would  more  frequently  give  them  their  patrimony  in  an  education,  it 
migbthaveamost  salutary  effect  on  their  scholarship  and  their  morals, 

of  tii^  mental  powers  can  bestow.  It  is  because  I  entertain  such  opin- 
ions of  the  piop<  r  qualifications  for  a  valuable  physician,  that  it  seem- 
ed to  me  not  amiss  to  expose  to  just  derision  the  nanow  conetptions  of 
some  who  destine  themselves  for  that  most  responsible  vocation.  jNor 
can  it  offend  any  of  our  elderly  physicians  of  eminence,  whose  early 
oppo.tunities  were  limited,  to  insist  on  the  necessity  of  a  finished  edu- 
cation to  success  and  distinction  in  their  profession.  1  hey  niay,  by 
the  best  use  of  their  confined  education,  and  by  the  aid  of  a  sound 
unde.standing,  have  arisen  to  meiited  celebrity ,  but  they  will  not  de- 
ny, thai,  With  a  better  foundation,  they  themselves  would  have  reached 
a  higher  eminence  with  perhaps  far  greater  ease. 


^,12 

2.  A  second  cause,  inju'ious  to  solid  improvement,  which  tiiistrace& 
the  f'lirest  plans  of  t'v  enlightened  anil  faithful  pi  •(•  ptor,  aur  whicb 
is  chariT'ahh^  upon  the  p)areiits,  is  the  consultinp-  of  cheapness  and  des- 
patch. A  teacher  is  chosen  for  the  cheapn -ss  of  his  terms,  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  he  can  push  boys  foiwa -d  for  entrance  into  col- 
leg".  Haste  is  n'l^y  thins.  ^Vhoever  can  get  a  boy  throuijh  the 
gr-'at'^st  number  of  books,  in  a  g^iven  tinip,  is  the  best  teacher.  I  am 
foitunati^  in  bein^  able  to  confirm  my  own  o  iseivations  on  this  sub)  ct^ 
by  f'  ■  testimony  of  so  thorough  a  scholar  aiul  so  distinguished  a  man 
as  P'ofessor  Stuart,,  of  Aiidover.  "Our  primary  schools,"  says  he,  in 
a  latf  essay,  "are,  in  a  multitude  of  cases,  verj'  imperfectly  reguhited. 
Stn  '^ats  are  hurried  through  every  thiig.  Shortness  of  time  and  sinall- 
nesi  of  ;'xpense  are,  at  present,  gi-ne  ally  made  essential  ingredi'-nts 
in  th  •  plan  of  preparatory  education.  Young  men  are  urged  on  ov  ra 
laro  liiild  with  rapid  step — the  grand  desideratum  being  to  pass  over 
the  it  nost  possible  ground  in  the  least  possible  time.  /;(  ivhat  wuyone 
travls,  it  matters  little  or  nothing.  Be  it  in  a  close  carriage  with  a 
bandage  over  his  eyes,  it  is  all  well  if  he  has  only  traveled.  Thus  he 
is  pushed  through  the  academy,  and  pushed  into  college,  when  in  fact 
he  .niirht  be  taken  up  upon  his  elementary  books,  and  found  to  be  lialt- 
ing  at  ii^arly  every  step.  But  t'lis  mist  be  overlooked — he  has  made 
rapid  I  Ivaac^s  in  as  mil  ti  n?  —  i;  bid=!  fair  to  commertdthe  scheme  of 
economy  in  time  and  money,  and  at  any  rate,  he  will  add  to  the  gene- 
ral summary  on  the  catalogue  of  college  members,  and  help  to  support 
the  ?.^ponses  of  the  Institntion."  Sucharethe  remarks  of  a  man  whose 
statio:!  as  a  theological  Professor  in  one  of  our  most  eminent  institu- 
tions, has  given  him  large  opp-irtunities  of  judging  of  the  mode  of  le- 
ra  -ntary  instruction  in  this  country ;  and  they  serve  to  show  us  how 
exi'nsively  the  evil  obtains  in  the  United  States — ihat  it  is  not  an  .:vil 
of  which  the  South  has  peculiar  reason  to  complain,  but  exists  in  a 
degree  which  we  should  have  hardly  siispccicd,  in  the  oldest  and  most 
improved  section  of  the  republick.  And  what  is  the  result?  Vvhy  he 
assures  us,  that  in  a  class  of  from  100  to  150,  who  come  annually  into 
his  hands,  by  far  the  larger  portion  cannot  declme  their  Greek  nouns 
and  verbs  with  any  tolerable  accuracy,  and  that  he  is  obliged  to  set 
them  to  the  study  of  their  Greek  grammais  as  a  necessary  prerequisite 
to  the  study  of  the  Greek  t-^stam.nt. 

Now  in  the  maintenance  of  this  literary  quackery,  as  it  may  with 
propriety  be  termed,  parents  and  teachers  have  a  reciprocal  action  up- 
on each  other.  The  parent  calls  for  cheapness  and  rapidity.  Thr  pub- 
lick  calls  for  cheapnf  ss  and  rapidity.  "Crowd  as  much  as  possiblt-  into 
a  small  co  npass,"  is  thr"  u  livorsal  demand  and  t!ie  unive  sal  cry  of 
this  economical,  labour-saving  age,  from  the  parent  who  has  a  son's  of 


u  tlauo'lifpr's 'ua'1  to  hr  fi'lrd  v  itl'  k  iiow!f(lir'\   to  tho  hooksrilor  vvl)^. 

oft'  y    .'I  ..'   :   >1        IW      Ivi-    Voilllll     S    of   111'       '.111   ,.'.    /"L.I^i.i      ''    .   I.    :       \\ 

intii  ,):i>>;ji..;inriir  ochno.  A'>  In  n  tlh^re  is  ;i  loiul  I'lnund  fo:  ai,'\  ;i  ,  w, 
liow  vri  (litHcult  oi  ini|).-actiral)lr  its  attainment,  tin  i  will  ai'w ;  <  s  be 
pe.«o-is  who  will  pof  ss  to  fiiiiiish  tlio  dcsidi  rattd  aiticlf,  \\\f  tL-  it. 
be  to  piovido  a  ilinni'i' of 'luininini!  hrds  a. id  peacocks'  ton;nis  fj  a 
Cliiripso  niaiularin,  oi  to  put  cioht  ounces  of  biain*  in  a  skull  wi'/re 
nature  has  left  only  cavit}'  enou<i!i  for  one.  Hence  if  you  make  p,c(  la- 
m:ruoii  for  a  teacher  who  can  put  into  his  boys  as  mucii  hainnio  in 
two  years,  as  others  can  do  in  four,  you  will  b  ■  suie  to  have  you.-  ofTer 
ace-^pted.  If  t!ie  o'ljeef,  is  ni  t  ly  that  a  boy  should  gallop  tliioii(_h  a 
ce  t:iiri  lumliei  of  hooks,  why  t'n  tlnno  may  be  done,  by  the  usu;u  pro- 
ces  liy  which  palloping  animals  are  accelerated- — nani<  ly,  the  m  hip  and 
th-^  -pur,  and  the  canyinp  of  litt!(  weioht.  And  if  ri  achine  tin  ooal 
fii^t  !)■'  all  that  is  required  to  win  the  stake,  the  rider,  instead  ol  N.  ep- 
inj  tlie  prescribed  tiack  for  legitimate  racing,  may  nanow  his  ci  ( uit, 
or  flash,  by  a  short  cut,  to  the  termination  of  the  course.  1  hese  tvach- 
ers  who  profess  to  do  so  much  in  so  liUle  time,  seiiously  injuii  the 
cause  of  solid  learning,  by  b/ingine  iiito  disrepute  those  schools  \Much 
dc'iKind  more  time  and  more  thorough  scholarship.  A  teacher  w  ho  is 
a  mill  of  sense  and  conscience,  who  knows  that  tour  years  at  least  are 
requisite  for  taking  a  boy  througli  the  classical  course  preparatoi  v  to 
ente.ing  our  comiuon  colleges,  and  who  wants  to  do  justice  to  his  em- 
ploye s,  is  mortitied,  perhaps,  to  find  that  his  pupils  are  taken  awaj', 
under  the  complaint  that  he  carries  them  on  too  slowly,  and  peihaps  he 
is  tax--d  witli  the  selfish  motive  of  ictarding  theii  progiess  on  pu  ptse 
to  swell  his  numbers  and  his  emoluments.  1  his  is  the  rewau.  I  ;.  ts 
foi  being  faitliful  and  conscientious,  and  for  his  manly  and  enliti  t  ,  vd 
view  of  what  constitutes  good  scholarship.  He  may  have  tnt  ir.-  up- 
on his  professional  career  with  that  ardour  and  enthusiasm  wlm  1.  arc 
so  conducive  to  success,  and  ht  may  have  dete.niinea  to  iiu ,  u  the 
reputation  of  forming  real  scholars.  But  he  presently  linds  tlmi  he 
cainot  carry  his  plans  into  execution — pupils  get  discouraged  by  the 
lengtli  of  time  he  requires  ;  parents  too,  revolt  against  the  Ci  ii-.}  and 
the  i  xpense,  and  he  is  obliged,  in  st  If  defence,  to  cnlt  i  the  lists  oi  t,;  ^n- 
dalous    race-running,   and  to  cry  out  with  his  comp  titois  fo.  puuuck 

favour, 

"Occupet  extremum  scabies;  mihi  turpe  relinqui  est" — 

or  in  plain  English,   "the  deuce  take  the  hindmost.'- 

Want,  then,  of  a  due  valuation  and  patronage  of  sujierioui  teachers, 

is  o'l-'  main  cause  of  the  low  stat."  of  OU'  primay  schools.      C>u    j  ej  u- 

lalioi  ;s  3  »  l']\\\   iU'  to-vv  .sso  small,  t'lat  tbeie  is     .  t  pat^onaf    '     •  !it.h 

for  many  scliools  in  the  same  place.     To  w  arrant,  then,  the  provision 


X 


14 


gt' commodious  buildings,  and  tlie  employment  of  a  well  qualified  leacii- 
er,  the  patronage  must  be  united  and  concentered.  But  instead  ot  that, 
what  is  the  state  of  things  in  our  towns  and  villages?  instead  of  a 
puhlick  union  in  maintaining  a  reputable  academy,  you  see  a  number  of 
litt'e,  petty  schools,  kept  up  in  various  parts  of  the  town — and  thetov\n 
academy,  if  there  be  one,  is  drained  of  its  resources.  A  few  publick- 
spiiitcd  individuals  struggle  for  some  years  to  maintain  a  good  teach- 
er, at  a  heavy  expense,  but  are  at  length  discouraged  by  the  apathy  of 
the  publick,  drop  the  school,  and  send  their  sons  to  a  distance.  INow, 
it  siiould  be  deemed  the  duty  of  every  good  citiz^'n  to  maintain  a  good 
school  in  the  place  where  he  resides,  whether  he  is  to  receive  an  imme- 
diate personal  benefit  from  it  or  not.  He  may  have  no  children,  or 
none  large  enough  at  present  to  profit  by  the  school,  but  still  he  must 
have  an  indirect,  an  ultimate  interest  in  the  good  education  of  the  com- 
munity among  whom  he  and  his  family  are  to  dwell.  Every  man, 
therefore,  ought  to  pay  cheerfully,  and  as  liberally  as  possible  for  the 
support  of  one  good  school  in  the  place  where  he  lives.  Even  the  old 
bachelors,  who  often  constitut'  a  numerous  and  respectable  class  in 
our  towns,  ought  to  indemnify  the  publick  for  their  selfish  and  indolent 
celibacy,  by  contributing,  for  the  benefit  of  the  children  of  othei>,  as 
mucn  as  they  would  have  had  to  expend  on  a  family  of  their  own; 
and  thus  thty  may  serve  society,  by  acting  the  part  of  stakes,  which, 
though  dry  and  fruitless  themsrives,  answer  admirably  well  as  sup- 
po.ts,  on  which  the  genial  vine  may  lean  and  hang  her  clusters  to  the 

SUM. 

\  hilc  on  the  subject  of  patronage,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention 
one  species  of  pationage  which  would  materially  benefit  all  our  schools 
froii!  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  It  is  the  patronage  of  notice.  It  is  the 
flattoiing  attention  of  the  publick  eye.  xVjuch  dep^  nds  on  this — more 
than  IS  generally  thought  of.  Vv  hatever  attracts  publick  attention,  and 
is  th  ■  suaject  of  popular  conversation,  will  be  estimated  by  the  young 
as  an  important  matter.  tj.ow,  then,  can  the  young  think  their  pro- 
git  ss  in  school  a  matter  of  importance,  when  the  publick,  and  even  pa- 
rents themselves,  will  not  attend  the  semi-annual  examinations  for  a 
few  houis  a  day,  every  half-year  ?  The  teachers  know  what  a  stimu- 
lus it  is  to  their  pupils  to  expect  this  periodical  inspection — they  make 
pro<;lamation,  they  invite,  they  d  g  parents,  relations,  professional  gen- 
tlemen, to  attend,  but  with  scarcely  any  success.  INow  and  then  a 
transient  straggler  comes  in,  but  soon  gets  tired  and  withdraws,  or  if 
he  possesses  a  more  than  common  share  of  zeal  and  patience,  finds  a 
ha;  p  ;rfuoe  f  oni  the  srvi^ilty  of  his  penance  by  a  nap  upon  his  iHow. 
Unhappy  pupils,  and  still  more  unhappy  teacher,  doomed  to  all  the 


15 

Worfifiration  and  flisrouracroinrnf  of  puhlick  ncplpct  !  It  is  !»aicl  ijs 
apolopy  for  this  ncsilcct,  "wc  arc  too  busy,"  or  '' wo  uncleistund  no- 
thin?  of  the  subjects  of  examination,  and  therefore  can  do  no  STood  by 
our  attendance" — or  "  it  is  too  dull  and  wearisome  to  endure."  In  re- 
ply to  these  excuses  it  may  be  said,  is  the  business  you  plead  of  greater 
impo  tance  than  the  impiovcment  of  your  child  ?  Or  if  you  have  no 
child  at  the  school,  is  the  prosperity  of  the  school  in  your  town  a  matter 
not  worth  the  giving  of  your  attendance  for  a  few  hours  twice  a  year? 
Admittinsf  such  attendance  to  be  unpleasant  and  tedious,  yet  can  you 
bear  no  self-denial  for  the  sake  of  attaining  a  great  publick  good? — 
Will  you  sacrifice  nothing  to  stimulate  to  industry  and  virtuous  habits 
the  dear  youth  of  our  country,  who  are  the  happiness  of  their  parents, 
and  the  future  rulers  of  the  empire  ?  Parents  and  other  citizens  are  not 
aware  what  a  valuable  effect  their  very  presence  has  upon  the  minds  of 
both  teacher  and  pupil,  or  surely  they  would  sacrifice  a  little  time 
from  more  agreeable  or  more  lucrative  employments,  to  stimulate  the 
o-ood  scholar  by  their  smiles  of  approliation,  and  to  shame  the  sluggard 
and  the  truant  by  the  stigma  of  their  notice.  Surely  the  faithful  and 
laborious  instructor,  who  is  wearing  out  life  in  the  cause  of  their  chil- 
dren, might  expect  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  towns,  this  little  tribute  to 
lighten  his  burdens  and  cheer  the  tedium  of  his  way.  He  would  re- 
pay it  in  increased  endeavours  to  deserve  their  confidence,  and  his  pu- 
pils would  repay  it  to  the  puhlick  by  higher  attainments  in  scholarship, 
and  by  doing  less  mischief  to  their  pigs  and  poultry.  In  every  village 
where  there  is  an  academy,  this  attendance  on  the  publick  examinations 
might  be  taken  by  rotation,  so  as  to  fall  lightly  upon  each ;  and  the 
ladi'^s,  who  are  fond  of  encouraging  every  thing  good,  and  who  are  apt 
to  take  a  livelier  interest  in  the  young  than  men  do,  could  not  do  more 
good,  in  all  their  round  of  morning  calls,  than  by  a  morning  call  af 
the  academy. 

3.  The  next  cause  of  the  imperfections  of  our  primary  schools,  which 
I  shall  mention,  is  the  scarcity  of  able  teachers.  They  are  in  general 
too  young  and  inexperienced.  The  weighty  charge  of  training  the 
minds,  and  managing  the  tempers,  and  forming  the  morals  of  the  young, 
is  confided,  in  a  great  many  cases,  to  persons  very  little  older  than  the 
pupils  themselves,  to  half-educated  young  men,  or  to  those  who,  if 
th"y  have  diplomas  in  their  hands,  must  be  confessed  to  have  more 
Latin  in  their  hands  than  in  their  heads.  Of  the  graduates  of  our  nu- 
merous colleges,  many  become  teachers,  who  were  among  the  most 
ordinary  scholars.  These,  like  other  insects,  propagate  their  kind 
with  pernicious  fecundity.  They  ^e^d  out  annually  their  little  swarms 
as  candidates  for  the  several  colleges,  all  carrving  evident  marks  of 


•        .  16 

(ucir  aca'l'^mical  parentage,  and  ve'-ifyi'ig  thft  maxim  of  the  anfMenf 
philosoph  ■  s,  tliat  "  w  ni'nlo  nihil  fit."  Tlicir  .VLna  hit,?:  >■  n  lot 
com:)!  liaaf  this;  herp'i'daaofri'k  sons  a<  not  yi-'kling  her  back  as  inuc-h 
as  they  received,  but  reversiajr  the  apostolicli  remark,  slie  may  say  to 
th"n,  "ye  carried  nothinij  out  of  this  woild,  and  it  is  ceitain  yc  can 
biiiiT  not!)in<T  in."  Thi^se  teachers,  if  they  deseivc  no  other  crdit, 
are  at  l?ast  Nititl  -d  to  the  praise  of  soon  making  their  pupils  as  wise 
as  th^ns"lvs.  The  furnitu.-"  of  their  upper-stories  is  so  light  and 
sei  ity,  that  it  is  as  easily  transf nred  f  om  their  own  noddles  to  tiiose 
of  their  pupils,  as  are  the  moveables  of  a  paup'  r  from  one  garret  to  iiiio- 
th'  r,  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  year.  Indeed  it  is  according  to  the 
an:ihi>7v  of  nature,  that  the  p'ogony  of  all  the  inf '.-ior  tribes  should 
fak'  liut  a  f'^w  months  to  attain  th''  size  of  the  parent  animal. 

Should  there  be  among  my  auditors  any  t  achers  w!io  look  upon  the 
severity  of  tlie  preceding  remarks  as  an  attack  upcin  themsolvc  s,  let 
them  spare  their  resentment,  by  reflecting  that  t!ie  present  company  is 
always  excepted,  and  that  criticks  carry  on  a  kind  of  Parthian  waifure, 
disrha.fjinir  th'ir  shafts,  not  at  those  before  tht  ii  faces,  but  those  be- 
hind' their  backs. 

But  it  ofiv  's  me  pleasure  to  stat":^  that  many  of  our  teachers  are  the 
flower  of  our  graduates,  and  would  it  were  the  case  that  the  pationage 
w^re  liberal  enoush  to  induce  many  more  of  such  to  choose  foi  the 
business  of  their  lives  this  most  useful  and  laudable  occupation.  As 
it  is  how'ver,  oth'"^r  prof  ssions  offer  more  tempting  prizes  to  tlu'ir  ta- 
lents, and  they  devote  to  sehool-keeping  one  or  two  of  their  g/een,  in- 
experienced years,  only  as  the  means  of  enabling  them  to  prosecute 
some  more  lue  ative  and  less  labo.ious  profession,  quitting  theschool- 
roo  n,  just  when  improved  scholaiship  a  d  acquired  experience  Save 
fitted  them  for  their  work.  The  publiek  ouvht  to  see  this,  and  ought  to 
provide  against  it,  by  setting  before  such  young  men  the  prosper  t  of 
honourable  remuneration.  Then  you  would  see  our  academies  sought 
aft^r  by  the  first  scholars  among  our  graduates,  and  sharing,  with  the 
oth  M-  liberal  professions,  the  genius  and  learning  of  the  land.  Th  n  a 
school  would  not  be  considered,  as  it  now  too  often  is,  a  meic  step- 
ping-stone to  some  other  station  more  lucrative  or  more  honourable, 
but  would  be  embraced  as  an  eligible  business  for  the  whole  of  life. 
Thus  our  children  would  have  the  advantage  of  the  matured  wisdom 
and  'experience  of  a  life-time  spent  in  the  same  occupation.  In  otaer 
things  we  deem  it  of  prime  importance  to  have  the  services  of  a  man 
Ion  r  oactised  in  his  p'-of^ssion,  f-om  the  farrier  who  shoes  our  ho.se, 
up  to  t'l  ■  phvsi-iii,  to  who  n  vv  ■  >>it'ust  our  hves,  and  t'\'3  judge  who 
sits  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  publiek.     In  teaching  alone,  we  are  con- 


ir 

tente-'l  witli  Ac  services  of  tyroes  and  novices.  A  pliysician  shall  not 
prfsci-ili  :■  tor  your  .-:v);i  i;i  ;i  fever,  a  lawyer  shall  aot  lhw  adviir  rcs- 
pc;-tiiiT  th.it,  SD  I's  property,  unless  they  both  be  men  of  tried  know- 
Ic.lii^.  But  that  son's  intellect,  tliat  son's  temper,  that  son's  moral 
character,  the  determination  of  what  kind  of  a  man  that  son  is  to  be — 
all  these  vital  matters  are  rashly  committed  to  younij  men  of  v<.'ry 
slcn  ier  experience.  Now,  is  the  tuition  of  the  voim^  mind  and  the 
manaiiement  of  thi'  younjj  heart,  tlr.'  only  art  in  which  no  app;entice- 
ship  is  required,  no  years  of  praitic'^  are  necessary?  Does  not  every 
man  who  has  tried  th  ■  business  of  leaching  know  that  he  lams  so'ue- 
thi  1?  important  every  year,  either  in  the  subji'cts  on  which  he  in- 
stru'^ts,  or  in  the  human  nature  on  which  he  acts,  and  that  he  is  worth 
fivefold  as  much  to  his  employers  at  thirty  years  of  age  as  he  was  at 
tw  nty  ?  Let  a  young  teacher,  therefore,  be  ever  so  clever  and  faith- 
ful to  his  undertaking,  h^  wants  that  which  nothing  but  time  can  give 
him,  and  how  seldom  we  find  one  of  such  promise  sufficiently  reward- 
ed to  continue  in  this  laborious  business  until  time,  which  ripens  wine 
and  cheese  and  friendship,  shall  ripen  his  magisterial  faculties,  nn-Uow 
the  crudeness  of  his  knowledge,  soften  the  sharpness  of  his  temper, 
and  (to  keep  up  our  similitude  of  old  Madeira)  give  him  a  body  of 
Sound  knowledge  and  good  sense,  from  which  his  pupils  may  continu- 
ally drink  in  strength  and  virtue. 

Let  m'-  now,  with  deference,  sussest  to  my  brethren  in  the  task  of 
instructing  youth,  some  improvnnents  which  have  occurred  to  me, 
and  particularize  some  faults  which  my  observations  on  vrrious 
schools  have  brought  under  view. 

The  first  and  most  glaring  defect  in  the  conduct  of  our  classical 
schools,  is  the  neglect  of  the  common  rudiments  of  English  education. 
It  is  quite  usual  for  young  men  to  be  sent  from  the  academy  to  colhgc 
so  deplorably  deficient  in  orthography  and  penmanship,  as  would  dis- 
grac"  the  urchin  of  an  old-field  school.  Many  a  sad  hour  havel  spent 
over  eolleeiate  compositions,  in  deciphering  hideous  hieroglyphicks,  and 
in  restoring  to  their  proper  English  physiognomy  such  monsters  as 
wriirfit  and  ron^,  kneighborhood,  hanous,foilage,  sep/rate,  colleilge,  jenius, 
tu'-'-ible,  persuit,  &ic.  This  is  a  serious  evil — itistheveiy  thing  to  brmg 
classical  learning  into  discredit.  Plain,  uneducated  people  are  com- 
petent judges  of  such  blemishes  as  these,  and  may  very  justly  com- 
plain of  a  course  of  instruction  which,  professing  to  communicate  the 
higher  parts  of  learning,  leaves  the  young  man  so  shamefully  untaught 
in  spelling  and  writing  liis  mother  tongue,  that  he  cannot  pen  a  com- 
mon epistle  without  danger  of  dis;.'iucmg  himselt.    There  should  then, 

c 


IS 

be  a  eompfiteiit  l/'af^hfiv  of  English  attached  to  every  s;rammar  school, 
into  vvhos"  'laads  the  hoys  shonl-i  pass  for  an  hour  or  two  ev  ■;  y  'lay, 
to  i)'^  o'-actised  in  the  several  Enghsh  hranches.  This  is  bettoi  ^loae 
in  eoajunction  with  their  classical  course,  because  it  only  introduces 
a  relieving  variety  of  occupation,  and  cannot  advantageously  either 
proc°de  that  course,  or  be  delayed  till  that  course  is  considerably 
advanced. 

A  second  practice  of  our  preparatory  schools,  against  which  T  must  be 
pemitt'^d  to  inveigh,  is,  the  omission  of  a  great  part  of  the  prescribed 
classical  course.  Of  this  th-  faculty  of  the  TTaiversity  have  reason  to 
speak  with  much  feeling.  A  certain  quantity  of  Greek  and  Latin  is 
reqnii-f>rl  to  be  read  in  order  to  admission  into  college.  It  is  as  little  as 
is  at  tII  consistent  with  respectability — less  than  what  is  demanded  by 
most  of  our  colleg'-s.  But  in  the  payment  even  of  this  pittance,  vv^  are 
not  fairlv  dealt  with.  P'^w  academies  render  us  honestly  the  full  d.  bt. 
One  t'^acher  clips  off  a  little  here,  another  a  little  there.  For  example: 
we  '-cquire  the  whole  seven  books  of  Csesar's  Gallic  War ;  but  one 
youth  comes  prepared  only  on  five,  another  on  four,  another  only  on 
two.  Ve  require  the  whole  of  Virgil's  .Eneid,  or  Ovid  Expurgata,* 
as  nn  equivalent  for  the  latter  half;  and  we  require  these  authois  not 
onlv  to  be  construed  and  parsed,  but  scanned.  But  this  requisition 
is  ii  most  cases  not  complied  with,  and  all  we  can  exto't  is  the  hist 
half  of  the  ^Eneid,  read  without  any  attention  to  prosody.  He-  e  at 
on^-  ■  is  Latin  enough  to  fill  up  a  whole  year,  of  which  the  pupil  is 
cheated  bv  this  system  of  literary  fraud.  Another  has  read  the  Gospel 
of  Tohn  in  Greek,  but  has  not  looked  at  the  Acts,  and  surely  we  must 
be  hard  and  austere  men  to  insist  upon  more  than  half  of  what  is  pre- 
scribed in  the  course.  A  third  has  gone  no  further  in  his  arithmitick 
than  factions,  and  df-pends  on  making  up  the  deficiency  after  he 
enters  college.  A  fourth  has  not  studied  geography.  Labouring  nn- 
de  •  one  or  another  of  thes  ■  deficiencies,  a  youth  comes  to  the  univer- 
sity,  perhaps  from   the  extremity  of  the  State.     The  faculty  are  then 


*  Ovid  Expurgata.  Since  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Gould's  beautiful 
and  chastened  edition  of  this  author,  there  can  be  no  proper  obj'  .  t  on 
to  his  ri-storation  to  a  place  in  our  schools.  The  richness  of  his  P'tty, 
the  vivacity  of  his  descriptions,  and  his  entertaining  stories,  cannot 
fail  to  render  him  a  pleasing  and  improving  companion,  whib  t;io 
ancient  mythrdogy,  arrayed  in  such  drapery,  must  he  much  Ixtti  •  le- 
ni":nbered  than  when  searched  out  piecemeal  in  the  dry  pag'  s  o''  a 
di'tionary.  This  edition  of  '\Tr.  Gould  is  fu  ther  recommended,  by  its 
containing  some  beautiful  selections  f  oni  the  Hf)-oitles,  to  initiat-  the- 
stndiiit  into  n-">ta''e!e-  vt-rsi,  of  which  he  would  otherM'isc  remam  \^- 
norant  through  his  whole  course. 


19 

jjlaocd  in  this  pai'itu!  dilrninia  :  tlicy  must  nithcr  dcpa'-f  from  their 
prDilaiui'd  t^iins,  i.i  \;'ilatioii  of  their  const  inicf  an(!  of  i.in  liotit  v .  or 
th"\  ;nust  tiini  away  this  youn^r  ukui,  \\  h<j  has  com''  f  oni  sucli  a  iiis- 
tanc',  and  deprive  him  of  the  be  netits  of  tlie  Institution.  INuw  wc 
ask,  is  it  fair,  is  it  kind,  in  teachers  to  impose  upon  us  this  distressing 
coallict  between  feeling  and  duty  ?  Is  it  deahng  fairly  with  theii  \>u- 
piis,  to  (>xpose  them  to  this  mortifying;  repulse?  Is  it  doing  justiri  to 
thi  cause  of  classical  learning,  of  which  they  are'  tlie  professed  atlvo- 
cat  s,  to  subtract  thus  largely  from  a  quantum  in  itself  sufticitntly 
meager?      We  hope  this  app.  al  will  not  be  made  in  vain.  * 

Among  the  imperfections  of  oih  school  system,  1  maybe  pardoned 
fo'-  numbering  the  want,  in  many  teachers,  of  an  advantageous  manner 
of  communicating  their  instructions.  There  is  often  discoverable  in 
the  teacher,  a  tamentable  want  of  animation  and  vivacity  of  manner, 
a  want  of  spirit  and  energy  in  conducting  business.  If  instruction  is 
imparted  with  spirit  and  life,  it  «ill  be  received  with  spirit  and  life. 
If  t'le  master  keeps  wide  awake,  his  pupils  will  also.  But  if  he  be 
listless,  languid,  speaking  scarcely  loud  enough  to  be  heard,  and  allow- 
ing them  to  answer  in  the  same  style,  why  the  whole  school  will  be 
pervaded  by  the  same  listless,  hum-drum,  careless  manner,  which 
sickens  a  spectator  just  to  witness  it  for  one  half-hour.  The  manner 
of  a  school-master  should  have  in  it  much  of  the  promptness,  eneigy 
and  decision  of  a  military  officer  giving  the  woal  of  command  to  a 
company  of  soldiers.     Then  he  will  leceive  the  same  prompt  ol)edi- 


+  From  this  censure  and  complaint,  let  me  be  permitted  to  except 
the  present  able  and  estimable  .vaster  of  the  fiillsborough  Latin 
School.  This  gentleman  deserves  much  of  every  friend  of  solid  edu- 
cation in  the  State.  Possessing  one  of  those  sound,  judicious  minds, 
andgeiitle,  well-regulated  yet  firm  tempers,  to  which  youth  can  be  so 
saie'ly  committed,  he  has  devoted  to  this  useful  but  laborious  profession, 
talents  which  might  have  earned  him  more  splendid  distinction,  and  ain- 
pl :'  emoluments  in  other  walks  of  life.  A  continually  increasing  number 
of  pupils  shows  that  tiie  publick  appreciate  his  merits.  iViay  well- 
earned  competency  long  induce  him  to  continue  his  useful  toils ;  and 
in  the  evening  of  his  days,  if  he  is  not  able  to  make  the  boast  of  the 
famous  Dr.  Parr,  tliat  his  potent  arm  has  placed  many  a  bishop  on  the 
bench,  he  will  proba!)ly  have  the  honour  and  the  comfort  of  seeing 
many  of  his  pupils  adorning  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  the  chaiis  of 
the  liberal  prof  ssions. 

To  have  paid  this  small  tribute,  in  passing,  to  a  gentleman  whose 
proximity  to  the  University,  and  whose  well-trained  contributions  to 
its  class  s,  enable  the  v/riter  to  be  peculiaily  w  II  acquainted  with  his 
merits,  will  not,  he  hopes,  be  consid'ied  as  invidious — oth  i  t'-ailurs, 
more  r:  mot",  may  des*  rve  as  well,  of  whom  personal  knowledge  will 
•not  enable  him  to  speak  with  equal  confidence. 


20 

ence.  Then  each  boy  will  be  always  on  the  alert,  have  all  his  wits* 
abinit  'iiiii,  and  liai;i  to  have  all  his  knowledive  rcadj-  at  coinuiaijcl,  lo 
march  at  a  moment's  warning.  In  this  way  not  only  would  thi  inttl- 
lert  !)t'  sharpened  and  the  memory  key)!  l),i<Tht,  but  a  vast  deal  of  tune 
would  be  saved,  whicli  is  now  consunied  m  waiting  upon  the  indoK  nee 
and  tardiness  of  ^'luggish  or  inattentive  boys,  bituated  as  I  have  been 
for  many  years,  destined  lo  take  up  and  prosecute  the  unfinished  la- 
boui=!  of  others,  I  have  had  considerable  oppoituaity  of  observing  the 
eff  '  is  of  different  modes  of  distiphne  on  the  various  youth  who  .  pair 
to  this  place.  Some  are  m  tiieii  recitations  animated,  confident,  and 
poui'  forth  with  fluency  all  that  they  know.  Such  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
hear,  and  their  recitafidii,  though  minute  and  critical,  passes  oti'  v\ith 
smoothness  and  rapidity.  But  in  too  many  other  cases  we  are  obliged 
to  say  that  the  deliveiy  of  the  student  is  so  lifeless,  so  indistin..t,  his 
manner  so  inert,  and  his  replies  to  questions  so  slow,  that  it  must 
damp  the  ardour  and  w;  ary  the  patience  of  any  teacher,  and  actually 
consumes  the  hour  to  which  the  recitation  is  lit^iited,  before  half  justice 
is  done  to  the  lesson.  I  am  eonvificed  tliat  Iwiee  the  business  might 
be  dune,  twice  the  i.ist'netion  impa.t 'd  and  received,  just  by  the  eor- 
rert'on  of  this  one  fault.  It  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  reff>nn  the  manner 
of  'b  livery  after  the  youth  comes  to  college  ;  it  is  by  that  time  incu- 
rable. 1,1  t  then  the  t.  achers  of  our  piimaiy  schools  take  lessons  tVotn 
the  billing  officer,  and  endeavour  to  exhibit  in  their  own  mannei,  and 
to  stamp  upon  their  young  nnlitia,  the  same  quickness  and  en;  .g}'. 
I  kei,u-  my  p>  t!;:L'(>giek  b,  thien  can  ::ay  much  in  palliation  of  this 
fault.  They  will  tell  me  that  I  talk  like  on<  viho  has  had  no  experience 
in  such  things — that  animation  cannot  be  kept  up  amid  the  dull,  dnily 
round  of  school-business — that  it  is  a  plaiit  which  cannot  live  in  such 
an  fitmosjihere,  and  they  will  wish  me  no  other  punishment  fb. my 
censui  e  than  to  be  condemned  to  go  into  the  schoolroom  after  dinn  r, 
in  a  1  ot  summer's  day,  and  hear  a  class  of  little  inarble-players  lecitc 
a  hssdu  in  Caesar,  giving  poor  Julius,  alas!  more  stabs  than  he  ic- 
ceiv  d  from  the  daggers  of  all  the  conspirators  in  the  Scnatt-house, 
and  avenging  the  Gauls  upon  him  for  all  his  muiders.  "  Ifyou,"  they 
wi'l  t-  11  me,  "can  keep  the  alge  of  your  animation  sharp  upon  sueh 
matnials,  you  must  be  made  of  better  metal  than  a  Damascus  swcid- 
blade,  or  the  farfamed  penknives  of  Rodgers.  The  expense  of  nui- 
mal  spirits  and  of  lungs  that  would  be  incurred  by  such  a  lively  mode 
of  instruction  constantly  kept  up,  would  wear  any  man  out  in  a  siiort 
time."  To  this  I  reply,  that  the  thing  is  not  imp'acticahle,  is  p  oved 
by  the  fact  that  some  teachers  have  exemplified  it  and  shown  its  happy 


21 

efl'ects.  This  is  particularly  the  f  a^r  in  tho  European  prl:onls.  '-i'licrti 
tlu,  master  outviRiipou  his  business  with  an  rmp.'iasis  and  vivacity  and 
gusto  unlxnowa  to  most  of  oui  Amfiican  scniinaiies.  To  tluiii  our 
manner  would  appear  iVicid  and  spiiitless  in  tlie  extreme.  All  de- 
pends upon  the  ti^aeliei's  lica;t  l)em<j  in  tlie  tiling.  It'  lie  t!uid<s  his 
business  an  important  one,  and  tliat  whatever  is  worth  doing  at  all  is 
wo:th  doing  well,  he  will  be  willing  to  use  all  requisite  efforts  to  make 
his  instructions  acceptable  and  successful.  And  iiere  again  appears 
the  mischief  of  our  schools  being  in  the  hands  of  mere  transient  young 
men.  They  cannot  entei  upon  thrii-  daily  dutit  s  with  that  relish  and 
enthusiasm  with  which  a  man  canies  on  his  main  ultimate  Ijusiim  ss, 
on  wlijcl!  he  is  to  depend  for  reputation  and  i'o!  bread.  Feeling  very 
litth  interest  m  theii  temporary  occupation,  t'uy  m  dl  make  no  exer- 
tions to  improve  their  scholarship,  and  their  ohj;  ct  m  ill  be,  to  gi  t  over 
the  drudgery  of  the  day,  on  as  easy  teni.s  as  they  can,  and  to  la}  up 
at  tho  end  of  a  two  years'  contiact,  as  much  money  as  will  bear  their 
CA-p.  uses  in  studymg  a  profi'ssion.  No  wonder  the  cause  of  letters 
should  languish  under  such  manasom*  nt. 

Another  f  ature  wliich,  I  tlnnk,  would  be  a  great  impiovement 
in  our  schools,  is  the  use  of  oral  lectures.  Were  a  teacher  to  deliver 
frequent  lectures  in  a  spirited  and  entertaining  manner,  on  Roman 
and  Grc^cian  history  and  antiquities,  on  geography,  and  the  maimers 
and  customs  of  different  nations,  putting  questions  every  now  and 
theii  to  keep  alive  attention  and  make  memory  responsible  for  what 
it  lias  received,  I  am  inclined  to  tiunk  it  would  have  the  happiest 
eff'^ct.  How  different  an  impression  is  made  by  the  dull,  custoiiiaiy 
op -iation  of  getting  any  thing  by  book,  and  having  it  d-  livered  iVom 
liviny  lips,  with  all  the  advantages  of  look,  voice  and  gesture,  whi-^h 
a  teacher  of  good  sense  and  aff::ctMnate  disposition  could  throw  into 
his  manner.  In  doing  this,  he  ought  to  have  the  assistance  of  all  :,i  i.es- 
sary  apparatus,  maps,  globrs,  plans  of  towns  and  sieges,  milita  y 
engines,  and  so  forth.  »Vhen  a  class  is  engaged  upon  Ctesar's  <ain- 
paigns  in  Gaul,  their  toacher  ought  tn  be  able  to  exhibit  to  theii  t  yes 
th'^  line  of  his  march — a  picture  of  the  battle-ground,  as  the  auiiior 
describes  it  —  of  the  situation  (f  the  town  besieged,  the  ditib,  nt 
columns  of  the  two  armies,  and  all  the  testudos  and  in  ce  and  ball  r- 
ing  rams  which  were  employed.  Then,  what  is  now  a  task  wouid 
become  a  pleasure,  and  the  authors  read  would  be  far  better  u):df>r- 
stool  and  remembered.  Lot  me  here  suggest  the  expediency  of  the 
t:>'5t  •  s  of  oui  several  acadf  mi.s  tiking  f.;-ins  to  pmi  ii;e  such  appa- 
ratus for  tho  schoolroom.     A  common  carpenter,  under  the  dii  action 


^«*. 


of  tlip  toach"r,  conM  make  nio'l  Is  fn  instance,  of  Caesar's  bridge^ 
and  if  s  >  1  ■  )f  t,  1  '  l-i  -i  11  ;itri  los  of  war  ,  and  thon  that  B.  lit':  f  hap- 
ter,  low  the  tenou.  of  schoolboys,  would  be  as  attiactive  to  t'.iem  as 
it  i'^  now  formidable.  They  would  not  "come  to  the  liver,  all  in  a 
shiv  T,"  but  would  thiak  of  -rossing  the  deep  and  rapid  Rhine  with  as 
mui'h  pl-^asure  as  they  make  ni!l-da  ns  over  the  rivulets  that  traverse 
th  !■  paternal  fields.  It  is  unfo  tunate  that  good  maps  and  charts  and 
pictures,  for  the  illustration  of  our  schoolbooks  are  cither  not  yet 
made,  or  are  too  costly  to  com;:  within  the  reach  of  ordinary  semina- 
ries. This  is  a  desideratu  n  which  ought  to  be  looked  into  and  sup- 
plied. There  ought  to  be  a  general  call  from  all  the  schools  fo.  such 
enij -avings,  and  such  machinery,  and  then  the  booksellers  could  afford 
to  hav  them  supplied  at  a  reasonable  price.  It  is  to  be  hoptd  that 
the  a:t  of  lithography,  which  has  been  so  rapidly  improving  within  a 
few  years,  and  has  multiplied  prints  on  such  cheap  terms,  will,  ere 
long,  be  employed  to  furnish  all  our  schoolrooms  with  agreeabi-  and 
striking  delineations  of  all  thoso  parts  of  youthful  study  which  can  be 
exlii'iited  to  the  eye. 

The  proper  construction  of  schoolhousos  is  another  point  which 
deserves  distinct  att  ntion.  AV'hen  I  have  visited  the  classical  scliools 
in  our  large  cities,  I  have  been  stru  k'witii  the  inconvenience  under 
which  they  labour  of  being  situated  close  upon  the  street,  stunned  the 
live-long  day  with  the  rumbling  of  drays,  the  rattling  of  coaches,  the 
cries  of  market  people,  in  slioit,  the  full  diapason  of  discords  winch 
co'ne  upon  the  tortured  car  from  the  commingled  voices  of  men,  wo- 
rn- ri  and  children,  dogs,  mockino-birds  and  pianos,  belonging  to  a 
great  town.  What  an  advantage,  thought  I,  do  we  enjoy  in  th(  soli- 
tud  ;s  of  Carolina,  where  we  can  fix  our  academies  in  the  quiet  if  rove, 
apart  from  all  this  pestif 'rous  bustle,  and  where  our  boys  can  lead  or 
play  under  a  canopyfof  maj  stick  oaks,  surpassing  those  of  Dodona  oi  of 
Bashan — where  the  dryads  or  the  muses  n  ed  not  have  scorjieu  to 
dwell — skirted  with  a  shrubbery  of  chinqiiepins  and  birches,  tiiose 
quickeners  of  genius,  those  wonder-working  wtapons  of  the  faitnful 
pedagogue,  possessing  all  the  powers  of  the  wand  of  -.iercuiy,  save 
that  of  lulling  mortals  to  sic  p.  In  th.  midstof  such  a  grove  stands  the 
schnolhouse,  the  temple  of  Astrea  herselt,  stern  goddess  of  justice 
whom,  though  the  poets  may  feign,  and  the  poor  Uherokecs  may  r-  aily 
suppose  to  have  forsaken  this  world,  yet  here,  if  no  where  els«  on 
earth,  she  holds  her  awful  reign,  seated  on  a  throne  of  flint,  with 
hickory  sceptre  in  her  right  hand,  and  the  faithful  oalance  in  her  iitl, 
to  whose  altar  her  high  p.i  si,  the  schoohiiustui,  daily  brings  each 
pale  delinquent,  weighs  him  m  the  balances,  and  by  her  coiuuiaud  ad- 


23 

jjiiiiisfofh!  If)  \ufi  slioulficrs,  b.ir-k,  I'  <js,  ct  cctrra,  llic  I'nl)  hk  fi>uvo  oi' 
lii^  (iis^'rfs.  But  tlirso  mirsprics  of  puerile  .'j<'iiiiis  and  ]>i  nit- iiTi-  los 
of  pueril-  inis:;lenic:inors,  our  sclniullionscs,  are  not  so  torfunat''  in 
their  const  action  and  furniture,  as  t!i"V  ar'-  ii;  tlieir  location.  They 
ought  to  he  l)uilt  witii  a  special  eye  to  the  pur]ioses  to  which  tlioy  arc 
to  be  applied,  and  turnislied  with  commodious  seats,  and  desks,  allc^-.s 
and  doorp  for  inffress  and  enfress.  Every  pupil  should  have  before 
him  all  accommodations  for  reading  and  writiiiij.  a  separate  desk 
Under  lock  and  key,  where  lie  may  secure  all  his  hooks  and  his  station- 
ary, which,  in  our  schools  now,  is  any  thin"  but  stntiouiiry ;  his  in  ns 
ink,  ruler  and  pencil  havintr  to  t  av  1  all  around  th(^  room  for  the 
accommodation  of  liis  fellows.  The  trust -e.?  of  each  academy  should 
see  it  provided  with  such  conveniences,  and  if  they  will  not,  each 
parent  ought  to  be  willing  to  incur  the  expense  of  such  furnitun'  for 
his  son's  benefit,  the  own.^r  being  allowed,  upon  leavinir  the  school,  to 
transfer  it  to  a  successor,  for  as  near  cost  as  its  condition  will  mejit. 
In  winter  every  schoolroom  should  be  warmed  by  a  stove.  In  no 
othr"-  way  can  any  degree  of  order  be  kept  up  ;  each  shivering  urchin 
will  he  continually  running  to  the  fire,  and  when  called  to  recite,  he 

will  have  nothinsf  at  his  fln^evs'  ends  but cold. 

Of  the  institutions  which  I  have  seen,  those  approaching  nearest  to 
my  h'-nu  ideal  of  a  schoolroom  are  the  celebrated  Round  Hill  schtxil  in 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Newbern  academy  in  this  state.  But  if  I 
might  be  indulged  in  the  description  of  one  of  these  little  casth  -:-in- 
the-air.  with  whose  buildina  T  have  sometimes  amused  myself,  I  VAould 
sav,  I't  this  spot,  where  so  many  years  (jf  the  sweet  spring  of  lif  •  are 
to  h"  sp  lit,  be  made  as  pleasant  as  possible  to  the  senses.  Let  the 
dej  cted  bov,  just  banislied  f:om  the  delights  of  home,  as  he  approaches 
the  schoolhouse  for  the  fivc^t  time,  see  every  thing  to  exhilarate  and 
ref  esh  the  spirits,  and  form  no  dismal  forebodings  of  meeting  the 
Mi:iotaur  as  soon  as  ho  steps  over  the  threshold.  Let  it  be  one  of 
those  umbraffeous  retreats  which  I  before  described,  with  ground 
smooth  and  a  little  sandy,  to  form  a  natural  arena  for  his  sports,  free 
fro  n  those  cruel  enemies  of  youthful  toes  and  incendiaries  of  youthful 
tempers,  stumps,  roots  and  stones  —  let  the  house  be  of  an  oblong 
shap-,  with  a  door  in  front,  from  which  leads  a  central  aisle  down  to 
th'^  other  extremity,  where  sits  the  sovereign  of  this  little  world,  in 
insulated  grandeur,  on  a  slight  elevation,  sufficient  to  command  a  vk  vv 
of  ill  his  dominions.     Let  the  floor  be  of  brick,*  to  prevent  noise,  and 


*  N^ota  bene.  The  brick  must  '»  laid  upon  a  floor  of  boa'-ds,  with 
air  .irculatiig  beneath,  parti  uialy  ni  a  humid  atmosphere,  lest  it 
should  become  damp  and  unwholesome. 


24 

let  it  slope  sradually  from  the  door  down  to  the  seat  of  the  teacher. 
Let  the  vvhol  •  area  lie  covered  with  singla  desi^s,  one  behind  the  other, 
witli  aisles  belvvceui  the  pupils,  while  at  their  desks,  sitting  witii  their 
baci  s  to  the  master;  this  arrangement  answering  the  same  t  nd  as 
blind  bridles  upon  carriage  horses,  that  tiioy  cannot  see  the  danger 
from  behind,  but  being  in  momentary  expectation  of  it,  will  be  alw  ays 
on  the  alert.  The  throne,  as  I  said,  must  be  situated  in  the  centre  of 
the  lower  end.  Before  it,  in  a  space  left  fo"  the  purpose,  must  be  fixed 
a  si;micircular  bench  for  the  class  under  recitation,  from  which,  at  the 
signal,  one  class  can  retire,  and  to  which  another  can  repair,  wheeling 
in  easv  circles  through  the  aisles,  like  well-trained  battalions,  wit'iout 
any  confusion.  The  small  'st  boys  I  would  have  to  occupy  the  S'-ats 
nearest  the  focus  of  light  and  warmth,  like  the  planet  Vlercury,  be- 
cause, having  most  mercury  in  their  constitutions,  they  would  be  most 
apt  to  be  flighty,  if  moving  in  a  remoter  orbit.  If  I  durst  add  another 
appurtenance  to  my  schoolroom,  it  shoukl  be  a  small  apartment  in 
the  rear,  just  behind  the  throne,  made  strong,  with  no  exterior  window 
for  admittins  the  wliispers  of  sympathy,  but  only  a  grated  window, 
openine  into  the  schoolroom  and  affording  sullicient  light  for  study. 
Need  I  mention  the  pmpose  of  this  mysterious  apartment?  It  is  for 
the  accommodation  of  criminals  and  debtors,  and  by  way  of  variety 
in  tlie  penal  code,  to  relieve  the  right  hand  of  the  teacher  from  per- 
petual vibration,  and  to  prevent  the  too  rapid  exhaustion  of  those 
birchen  and  chinquepin  nurseries  before  mentioned.  Here  the  dt  lin- 
quont  could,  during  play  hours,  repent  of  his  offences  in  solitary  me- 
ditation, assisted  by  fasting ;  and  here  th' truant  and  the  idler  could 
be  tasked  and  made  to  pay  their  debts,  an  advantage  unattainod  by 
th'"  usual  imprisonm  >nt  of  del)tors,  whose  time  is  completely  th.own 
away  both  to  themselves  and  their  creditors.  A  schoolroom  thus  eon- 
structed,  would  be  attended  with  many  advantages;  the  teacher  ha  vino- 
every  facility  both  for  communicating  instruction  and  maintaining  or- 
der, commanding,  like  Jupiter  from  the  top  of  Olympus,  his  whole 
dominions  with  one  glance  of  "  tiiat  eye  whose  bend  doth  awe  the 
world,"  and  ruling  all  by  the  tap  of  his  ferula  or  the  nod  of  his  head. 

Shakes  his  ambrosial  curls  and  gives  the  nod, 
The  stamp  of  fat    and  sanction  of  a  god. 

If  any  of  my  audience  should  here  cha.ge  me  with  an  oversiorht  in 
supposing  a  monarch  to  rule  with  a  nod,  subjects  who  sit  with  their 
backs  to  him,  I  can  only  say  that  such  an  objector  k;iows  not  the 
marvellous  flexibility  of  the  iiuman  neck,  nor  how  often  a  schoolboy 
is  found  in  the  posture  ot  Lot's  wife. 


2i> 

I  am  scuh;il)le  of  the  peril  to  which  1  am  exposing  myj^olf  hv  tiiest 
T>iig<rf?stion.-;  for  the  reformation  of  youthful  culprits,  that  I  am  liazaid- 
iug  the  w  rath  of  that  numerous  tribe  ;  but  I  hope  the  freedom  of  dis- 
eussion  is  not  yet  fettered  on  this  lioor,  as  it  has  been  on  some  other 
iloors,*  and  that  1  shall  be  in  no  danger  of  meeting  a  pistol  or  a  elub 
on  my  way  home.  If  I  should,  let  them  take  care,  for  they  know  not 
but  my  innocent-looking,  ivory-headed  cane,  which  I  never  yet  at- 
tempted to  draw,  may  unexpectedly  fly  asunder,  and  like  the  Trojan 
horse,  disclose  deatii  in  the  inside.  Let  tiiem  know,  that  though  my 
profession  commands  me  to  be  "no  striker,"  yet  my  blood  is  of  that; 
jiation  which  bears  the  thistle  as  its  emblem,  and  whose  motto  is ; 
.Ve»io  me  iinpune  lacesset. 

In  all  these  remarks  I  have  had  my  eye  entirely  upon  schools  for 
boys;  but  most  of  them  may  be  applied,  (mutatis  mutandis)  to  sehoolt; 
for  girls.  With  respect  to  the  latter,  it  may  be  added,  that  in  some  ol 
our  female  seminaries  too  much  is  attempted.  The  whole  encylope- 
dia  of  knowledge  is  embraced  in  the  list  of  studies,  and  in  the  com- 
pass of  two  or  three  duodecimos  ;  and  the  young  lady,  by  the  time  she 
reaches  her  teens,  is  in  danger  of  thinking  herself  grammarian,  geo- 
grapher, astronomer,  chemist,  botanist,  musician,  painter  and  what 
not.  She  is  taken  from  school  just  at  the  age  when  she  begins  to  be 
capable  of  appreciating  her  studies,  and  having  got  by  rote  a  little 
smattering  of  every  thing,  she  forgets  it  all,  and  never  will  have  any 
valuable  knowledge  unless  she  chance  to  fall  afterwards  into  the 
hands  of  a  sensible  mother,  who  shall  carry  on  the  cultivation  of  her 
mind  at  a  riper  age.  Our  schools  for  girls  ought  to  be,  as  som^  of 
them  really  are,  under  the  care  of  men  or  of  ladies  of  age  and  expe- 
rience and  sound  scholarship.  Under  such  guardianship,  a  youno- 
lady's  education  might  be  continued  advantageously  till  she  was  eioh- 
teen  years  ot  age,  by  which  time  she  might  make  solid  attainments, 
and  her  mind  acquire  a  training  and  an  impulse  which  would  carry  it 
on  in  progressive,  improvement  through  future  life.  If  her  teacher 
should  have  the  happy  faculty  of  breathing  into  the  young  female 
mind  an  ardent  thirst  of  knowledge,  which  shall  raise  her  above  the 
petty  cares  and  vanities  of  dress,  and  exclude  all  desire  of  enterin<v 
into  company  and  taking  her  place  in  the  world  until  her  appropiiate 
studies  are  finished — such  a  solid  and  protracted  education  would 
rear  a  generation  of  women  that  would  have  a  mighty  influence  on 
society.     Our  sex  would  be  obliged  to  push  forward  their  acquisitions 

*  Alluding  to  the  late  assaults  on  certain  members  of  Congress, 

D 


26 

ta  order  to  escape  the  luimiliation  of  ini'eriority,  and  llie  whulc  lacc 
of  dandies,  who  now  rely  upon  the  gentility  of  a  coat  and  the  giace* 
fulness  of  a  bow,  to  make  up  tor  what  is  lacking  in  the  head,  all  these 
woukl  be  compelled  to  tit  themselves  for  the  company  of  tlie  fair  by  a 
stock  of  useful  and  polite  knowledge.  Then  Ave  should  not  hear 
those  sarcastic  reflections  upon  the  capacity  of  the  female  sex  ;  sar- 
casms of  little  wits,  who  are  incapable  of  discriminating  between 
want  of  opportunities  and  want  of  talent,  and  who,  perchance,  may  on 
some  occasion  encounter  a  cultivated  woman,  that  will  make  them 
rue  their  flippant  pretensions,  and  cautious  how  they  ever  talk  again 
of  female  inferiority. 

The  sum  of  all  I  have  said  then,  may  be  comprised  in  one  remark, 
that  inadequate  patronage  deprives  the  country  of  skilful,  experien- 
ced teachers.  Patronage,  liberal  patronage,  will  command  excellence 
in  all  the  departments  of  life.  Men  ought  to  be  willing  to  pay  the 
best  prices  for  good  tuition,  as  they  are  for  the  best  merchandize,  the 
best  mechanical  work,  the  best  legal  and  medical  advice.  A  cheap 
bargain  is  generally  a  mean  one,  and  in  nothing  docs  this  hold  more 
true  than  in  the  employment  of  a  teacher.  When  a  father  once 
brought  his  son  to  the  philosopher  Aristippus,  to  put  him  under  lii.j 
tuition,  and  objected  to  his  price,  saying  that  he  could  buy  a  slave  for 
that  sum:  "Do  so,"  exclaimed  the  philosopher,  "and  then  you  v.ill 
have  two." 

There  is  nothing  which  would  provide  a  more  effectual  antidote  for 
the  evils  incident  to  our  schools,  nothing  which  would  sooner  brinf 
them  to  a  high  standard,  than  a  seminary  for  the  education  of 
SCHOOLMASTERS.  This  is  really  a  desideratum.  The  art  of  teach- 
ing is  one  which  requires  all  the  lights  that  can  be  collected  from  the 
inventions  ajid  experiments  of  past  ages.  As  things  now  are,  every 
teacher  has  to  acquire  Uie  art  for  himself,  after  many  years'  experience,. 
after  having  laboured  under  the  disadvantages  of  involuntary  igno- 
rance and  mistakes  through  most  of  his  life.  Many  never  learn  the 
art  at  all,  and  are  satisfied  to  plod  on  in  the  old  track,  teaching  others 
as  they  themselves  were  taught.  But  there  are  others  who  really  wish 
to  improve  themselves,  whose  minds  are  open  to  welcome  any  sug- 
gestion, who  read  and  inquire,  and  would  be  glad  to  adopt  any  mode 
of  instruction  and  disciphne  which  has  been  tried  with  success.  Now, 
a  seminary  for  teachers,  conducted  by  men  of  high  reputation,  would 
furnish  the  results  of  all  the  wisdom  and  ingenuity  that  have  been 
employed  upon  the  science  of  instruction  in  different  countries. 
There  a  aian  would  learn  what  are  the  best  sehoolbooks,  what  is  the 


27 

Tk  ^t  riiin.sc  oi"  ^tuJy,  what  is  the  best  mode  of  impaniiig   knowiedgej 
ihe  btst  mode  of  manaoing  youth,  and  what  are  the  greatest  attain- 
ments practicable  in  a  given  time.     All  these  important  particulars  lio 
AVould  learn,   as  well  as  bring  his   own    scholarship   to  much  greater 
perfection.    A  teacher,  trained  at  such  a  seminary,  would  proceed  with 
a  confidence  and  couraue  and  enthusiasm,  now  unfelt.    He  would  not 
take  every  /step  tremulously,    with  the   hesitation  and  uncertainty  of 
a  man   who  is   feeling  his   way  and  relying   on  his  own  single  expe- 
riment.    The  publick  would  feel  contidencc  in  such  a  teacher ;  and  a, 
certificate  of  having  prepared  ones  self  for  a  school  master  at  such  an 
institution,   would   be  worth   more    than  a  hundred  college  diplomas. 
It  is  astonishing  that  the  publick  have  not  long  seen  the  necessity  of 
such  an  institution.      We  have  seminaries  for  training  up  physicians, 
lawyers  and  divines ;  even  mechanicks  learn  their  trades  under  the 
best  masters.     But  that  most  important,  delicate  and  difiicult  business 
of  fashionir.g  the  intellect,  moulding  the  disposition  and  wielding  the 
nascent  energies  of  those  mIio  are  soon  to  be  the  rulers  of  the  world, 
is  left  to  mere  accident,  or  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  most  common  and 
inexperienced  characters.     If  a  man  has  bought  a  fine  piece  of  clotli, 
it  is  not  every  tailor  that  he  will  trust  to  make  it  up  for  him.     No ; 
ho  inquires  for  the  best  workman,  for  him  who  has  served  his  time  in 
one  of  the  cities,  in  some  reputable  shop.     He  is  not  going  to  have  his 
suit  spoiled  by  some  bungler  in  the  art.     But  this  same  man   will  put 
his  son,  his  dear  son,  who  is  worth  more  than  ten  thousand  suits  of 
clothes,  he  will  put  his  precious  understanding  to  be  tampered  with 
by  a  man  of  no  mind — he  will  commit  that  son's  temper  to  be  handled 
by  one  who  cannot  control  his  own,  and  who,  by  his  injudicious  treat- 
ment, may  sour  his  spirit  or  discourage  his  efibrts,  or  harden   him  in 
obstinacy,  and  give  him  an  everlasting  disgust  against  learning.     ^Ve 
know  not  how  many  young  persons  have  been   ruined  or  injured  by- 
unskilful  management  at  school.     I  would  by  no  means  attribute  all, 
or  even  the  greater  part,  of  the  unsuccessful  cases  of  education,  to  tlic 
fault  of  the   preceptor.     I  know  that   the  natural  indolence  and  pcr- 
verseness  of  the  human  heart  will  often  baffle  the  best  management, 
and  account  for  numbers  turning  out  badly,  without  supposing  blame 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher.     But  every  candid  and   sensible  instructer 
will  see  and  acknowledge  that  he  often  errs,  will  feel  that  to  ma- 
nage human  nature,  especially  human  nature  under  the  influence  of 
tlie  levity,  the  passion  and  the  inexperience  of  youth,  is  a  most  ardu- 
ous and  delicate  task,   and  will  rejoice  to  receive  any  hints  by  which 
he  may  succeed  better  in  his  design.     He  has  the  best  intentions,  he 


^28 

iijakes  continual  exertions  ;  but  still  he  laments  that  his  aclnevcmcnt^ 
come  far  short  of  his  wishes  and  his  aims. 

Let  there  then  be  established  throughout  the  United  States  three  or 
four  schools  for  training  teachers,  and  let  a  fund  be  raised  by  every 
community  for  the  purpose  of  sending  one  of  their  youth  of  promise  to 
such  an  institution,  that  he  may  come  back  to  them  an  accomplished 
teacher,  and  they  will  be  amply  indemnitied  for  all  their  expense  by 
his  superiour  usefulness. 


m. 


i> 


4-ir 


